[He gets it, though. It's fair advice, and for a moment he does just that: breathes in, out, focusing on her presence and the hands on him. She won't always be around to catch him, but he can try to remember at least what this feels like. He can try to catch himself in the act and... maybe do it a little bit less. Not immediately, not always, not all at once. But this doesn't feel great, and it hasn't felt great his whole life. Being used to something doesn't make it okay. It's the same way with his old aches and pains from the injury- he got used to it, but those moments where Ardyn heals him and for a few hours he's relieved of that burden... it's nice. He learned how to be okay with doing that for himself, even if there's a small cost to Ardyn in return.
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Come on, that's too hard.
[He gets it, though. It's fair advice, and for a moment he does just that: breathes in, out, focusing on her presence and the hands on him. She won't always be around to catch him, but he can try to remember at least what this feels like. He can try to catch himself in the act and... maybe do it a little bit less. Not immediately, not always, not all at once. But this doesn't feel great, and it hasn't felt great his whole life. Being used to something doesn't make it okay. It's the same way with his old aches and pains from the injury- he got used to it, but those moments where Ardyn heals him and for a few hours he's relieved of that burden... it's nice. He learned how to be okay with doing that for himself, even if there's a small cost to Ardyn in return.
It's okay to ask not to be hurt.]
...I'll try. I promise... I'll try.